


Flickers

by Nekhs



Category: Daredevil (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), Venom (Comics), Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Animal Death, Canon-Typical Cannibalism, Canon-Typical Violence, Carl Brock's A+ Parenting, Catholic Guilt, Child Abuse, Digital Art, Does not stand alone, Eddie Brock has ADHD, Flash Forward, Flashbacks, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Gen, Hallucinations, Homelessness, Human Experimentation, Hurt Matt Murdock, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Knives, Mental Health Issues, Microfiction, Nightmares, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Schizophrenia, Spoilers, Temporary Character Death, Trans Female Character, Transphobia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2019-10-25 11:50:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 53
Words: 6,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17724647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nekhs/pseuds/Nekhs
Summary: 120-word microfiction that expands on characterization and events seen in the"Living After Life"series.Canon to that universe but doesn't necessarily fit anywhere specific in the series.Entries are not posted in chronological order and skip merrily around the timeline of the entire series.Heed the tags, this can be pretty heavy stuff, even if, by its very nature, it can't go into graphic detail.





	1. Sometimes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being crazy isn't fun.
> 
> (Mental illness acting up.)

Sometimes, Dawn could almost pretend she was fine. 

Sunny did their best, and their best was very good. They filtered out the lies her brain told her, dulled the whispers in her ear. 

They knew what was real, and they knew what wasn't, and sometimes, it was enough. 

Sometimes, though, it wasn't. 

There wasn't much they could do, the days that fear overwhelmed reason. She hid beneath the bed, wrapped in blankets and their comfort, and she watched for things that weren't there.

Darkness didn't matter, like it used to. Together, they could see through any shadow.

On the nights when nothing could convince her that she was safe, they stood watch together. Irrational fear couldn't be argued, only endured.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this universe, Donna Diego was just a schizophrenic kid who ended up on the streets, still going by her birth name of Dawn, rather than a catchier pseudonym.
> 
> It's not all bad: those sketchy extra-legal trials at the LIFE Foundation introduced her to the best friend she'd ever make.


	2. Dying (spoilers!)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers for my fic, [Observation!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16771552/)
> 
> Includes temporary character death and angst. Be advised.
> 
> -*-
> 
> Death hurts - but less than expected.

She was dying. 

Humans needed hearts to live, and the laser had burned hers away to ash.

So, that was it, then. After the initial agony, she mostly just felt cold. Her legs weren't really there anymore, either - that would be the part of her spine that was missing,  probably. 

_ I'm sorry, _ she managed.  _ It's okay.  _

**No,** Sunny replied, their refusal plain in their voice.  **Not okay. Not dying, don't even think it.**

The Iron Man was there, holding their body up, horror in his expression. He didn't want to have killed her. She probably shouldn't have run away. 

_ I'm sorry, _ she repeated, and she meant it.  _ Please. Find someone new. Don't die with me.  _

**I won't** **_let_ ** **you die.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was a lot closer than they'd like to admit, though.


	3. Sunlight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enter the monster.
> 
> (Unethical human experimentation.)

When she'd signed the papers, half-starved, cold, alone, she had no idea what she was signing up for. She just knew that they were offering good money - easy money, too.

The nurse led her into the room, and her eyes settled on the container.

It looked like liquid sunlight, in constant motion. Without thinking, she pressed her hands against the glass. Thin, almost delicate strands of gold mirrored the action, and she could feel the heat beneath her palms. 

“You're beautiful,” she whispered, into the silence of the suddenly empty room. 

The glass slid open.

Sunshine pressed against her skin, into, through. 

It didn't hurt, exactly. 

She felt warmth spreading throughout her veins, and a sense of quiet wonder. 

**_Beautiful._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't be the only one who finds the twisty ferrofluid monsters to be fascinating to look at, can I?


	4. Coffee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morning brain fuzz.

Eddie can't actually function before coffee. 

His brain is a mushy haze of confused, floundering thoughts chasing themselves around in circles, and it's always kind of been that way. His first cup of the morning kind of puts his brain into order, and by the second, he's actually approaching something like human. 

He knows he drinks too much of the stuff - like  _ way _ too much - but it helps him focus. 

It's not like it even helps him actually wake up or anything - hell, he's literally had a cup right before falling asleep, some days. It's okay, though: he doesn't really need the help waking up. Once he's doing something, he's good. 

It's just figuring out what the hell to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I stand by my hc that Eddie had ADHD.


	5. Flee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Layers of pain.
> 
> (Mentioned child abuse and mental illness on display.)

When Dawn panics, she hides.

By now, Eddie's used to it. 

She feels guilty, after, running from nothing, but Sunny's shown V the overwhelming panic, the certainty that nothing and nowhere can possibly be safe. 

So, he says, “Doesn't seem like nothing to me,” and he shows her some breathing exercises that help him calm down.

When she's like this, the best he can do is make sure she's safe.

Her parents, the ones who taught her fear, had left wounds so deep that they might never fully heal. The scars weren't visible things, but rather emotional.

Dawn couldn't always stand to be touched, to be seen, to even exist around other people.

Venom _still_ wanted to kill her parents. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These are fun little things to toss together. I forgot how much I enjoy microfiction.


	6. Honesty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A good lie contains some truth.
> 
> (Warning for cannibalism mention.)

Dawn doesn't  _ lie, _ exactly. 

Lies are bad: when the truth is uncovered, it’s even worse. 

She has no obligation to actually volunteer the truth, however. If they don't know to ask the right questions, she doesn't have to say anything.

“What's  _ wrong _ with you?” A boy asks, indignant. 

“Everything.”

“What are you doing out so late?” A concerned man frowns at his watch. 

“Walking.”

She figures it's not really like anyone has a reason to want to know more. She doesn't linger, doesn't speak. Her attitude, her lacking speech - it's too much work to get to know her. 

A man once took offense when she blew him off. His mistake. 

Scream ate his entire corpse: they must leave no evidence. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dawn is the sort of liar who tells the truth so completely devoid of context that it doesn't actually say anything useful.
> 
> 'How did you get hurt?'
> 
> 'Fell.'


	7. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clinging to the edge. 
> 
> (Warnings for dead animals and cannibalistic urges.)

“Eating for two,” the saying went. 

Without a home, Dawn can't get a job. 

Without a job, money is hard to find.

She's hungry. 

They're always so hungry. 

The golden shadow forms teeth and talons. Rats, pigeons, even feral cats - they aren't caught, because no one knows to look.

She should fear the hunger. Humans look ever more like prey.

It should bother her that she's okay with the idea. Not the execution - she refuses - she'll be caught, she'll be found, and they will never hunt enough to eat in prison. 

In prison, they'll be found by the Foundation, and then their escape will be for nothing.

Rats and cats and bats, with discarded scraps for Dawn. 

It’s almost enough. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's from after Dawn escapes LIFE, but before tracking down Eddie.


	8. Chocolate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A different perspective.

Half mad with starvation, it was probably the best thing they had ever tasted.

Together, they were together, two minds in one shell, and hungry, so hungry. 

This man they'd found, he was strong,  _ a strong host. _ He was like them, two minds in one body, and they could sense the shadow beneath his skin. 

This time, the darkness felt like shelter, the safety beneath her bed, the shadow that shielded them from view.

And the man, this  _ Eddie, _ he gave his food freely, a brick of sugar that tasted of happiness. It had been carved to look like a rabbit, except that the head had been torn off.

He was like them, and he knew what they'd been missing. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a different POV of that early bit in Offspring. -thumbsup- 
> 
> I'm awake so have a thing. 
> 
> _I regret everything._


	9. Mother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Perfection is unattainable.
> 
> (Warning for child abuse.)

Mother was control.

Her hair was perfect. Her makeup was perfect. Her clothing was perfect. 

Her husband was perfect. 

Her daughter was not. 

Dawn liked food. Flavor and texture brought her simple joy. 

Mother caught her in the refrigerator. She didn't have permission for that, and so, of course, she had to be punished. 

The next day, there was a lock on every cupboard, and a padlock on a chain. There would be no more midnight snacks, and if she knew what was good for her, she'd know better than to try. 

Why was it,  she wondered, through the stinging pain of Father's belt, that Dawn just didn't want to be perfect? 

They had given her every opportunity, hadn't they?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof.


	10. Father

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victims learn violence. 
> 
> (And more child abuse.)

Father was strength. 

He did what Mother said, never complaining, because he knew what was good for him. 

When Mother yelled, he didn't reply. He never raised his hand to her in anger, he accepted that she was right, always, because she was Mother. When Dawn asked questions, in her foolish innocence, he was quick to ensure that she  _ knew _ Mother was always right.

He didn't love Mother, not like Dawn saw in her stories. She didn't make him happy; to her,  _ he _ existed to make  _ her _ happy.

When he was angry at Mother, when Mother didn't know, he liked to hurt Dawn. 

It wasn't punishment, those secret aches. But it made him happy, and that was something, she supposed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Giving them believable motivations doesn't make them better people, sadly.
> 
> Figured I would post this little one-two punch all together.


	11. Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Safety is a good feeling.

Trust, for Dawn, came slowly. 

Put simply, as nearly as Eddie could tell, the concept was wholly foreign to her. 

She slept lightly, even when Sunny was able to watch out for her. She still - sometimes - flinched at a sharp tone, even when it wasn't aimed at her. 

Her eyelids had fluttered shut, leaving her dozing on the couch. It was cute, unfairly so, but she'd be more comfortable in her own bed.

“C'mon, kiddo,” he murmured, and with V's help, he lifted her into his arms. 

**So light, Eddie. So fragile.**

Emerald eyes fluttered open. She looked up at him and smiled, before snuggling in against his chest. 

His heart melted. 

**We will keep them safe.**

**_Our beloved offspring._ **

****__  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes you just need some extra soft fluff.
> 
> This one comes with a quick sketch! I've been trying to get into the habit of drawing regularly.


	12. Fault

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some things actually _were_ his fault.
> 
> (Even more child abuse! Plus negative self-talk and alcohol abuse. )

Eddie Brock was going to Hell.

He'd known that since he was a child: Carl Brock had made certain he knew exactly where the fault lay.

Mary didn't have a mother, and it was Eddie's fault for being born.

He was hellbound, anyway, so why keep going to church? When he left for college, he gave up on religion, more or less.

Never quite shook the guilt, though.

He started drinking more.

He started feeling less.

It seemed like a good place to start.

Feelings were a weakness his father never showed, after all.

So, he drank too much.

One thing led to another.

He was still going to Hell.

He ruined his life, Anne's life.

Everything was his fault.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Borrowing bits and bobs from comic canon if you squint.
> 
> Gotta love that Catholic guilt.
> 
> Did you know, child abuse is a predictor for sociopathic tendencies? Useful trait for an anti-hero, I suppose.


	13. Crying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Determination to be better. 
> 
> (Depression here because it's always here, just waiting to punch your teeth in. )

Eddie felt like crying more often than he cared to admit.

Especially after the accident, his self-loathing and despair left him numb and aching in turns. 

Probably, he should have gotten therapy for that. Instead, he came up with a lot of unhealthy coping mechanisms. 

He wanted, more than anything, to atone for the mistake that was his entire life. 

In a rare flash of brilliance, he figured everything out. 

The system was broken. 

It let his father bribe every single person involved in the case. 

Now it was trying to charge him more money than he could earn to seek help. 

Eddie wasn't good for much, but he  _ was _ a master at breaking things. 

He could break the system. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is significantly LESS subtle about making off with the pieces of comic canon that might be useful.


	14. Snow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soft angels.

“Really? You've never seen snow?”

She shook her head, looking around in wonder at the delicate flakes drifting around them. Red hair fluffed up around her, glittering with captured spots of white.

**“We haven't either,”** V pointed out.

He grinned. “Nah, V,  _ you _ haven't seen snow. I grew up with it.”

**“Pretty,”** Scream murmured, the subtle echo audible in her voice.  **“We like this.”**

Lasher rolled on his back, tongue sticking out of his mouth, and Eddie watched, amused. “I suppose that means you've never made snow angels, either?”

**“No?”**

He flopped onto his back, playfully. “It's easy, you just - like this - ” And he flailed his arms and legs. 

Golden eyes peered down at him.  **“You are acting very silly.”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ill-defined in timeline!
> 
> But fluffy.


	15. Collect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Possession is 9/10ths of the law, or some such thing.
> 
> (Knives, knife violence, child abuse, assault)

The very first knife Dawn ever took belonged to Mother. She'd been angry, drunk, and cruel - nothing new. 

What  _ was _ new was the knife. 

So, she decided, if someone made her bleed, cut her open with the blade, well, that made it hers, didn't it? Mother cut open her fingers, but better her hands than her throat. 

That was the first of her blades. 

People didn't stop trying to hurt her, though. 

With the first knife, she collected the second: a box cutter held by a man who didn't accept her ‘no.’ He got blood all over her back. 

The LIFE people wouldn't let her have weapons. She did her best to hide her treasures, and promised she'd be back. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This habit ended up persisting even after she no longer needed human weaponry. \o/


	16. Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Hive remembers.

The dreams came in impossible sound and color, so vivid as to be alien.

Dawn slid back. 

Sunny pushed forward. This was their dream, their  _ memory, _ lightning flashing above the bare tundra, and warriors arrayed against the coming of the dark. 

Together, they were hunger, and violence: conquerors in a foreign land. 

The humans cried for a savior, but who could stand against the perfection of the abyss? None could challenge them. 

Lightning struck. Thunder cracked. 

They were cold, so cold.

Claws tore at the frigid water, splitting into droplets of ink in the ice, losing form and cohesion as the dream broke apart. 

Dawn landed on the floor with an indignant yelp, the blankets falling around her. 

_ “Again?” _

**Sorry.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said I wouldn't touch this, but then I actually read the 2018 run so far and I'm mostly just indignant so here we are. 
> 
> _Seriously going to just warp and twist and retcon the fuck out of your canon queer rep, huh? That's what fanfic is for, I suppose._
> 
> _-cracks knuckles-_
> 
> Nightmares are fun for the whole family!


	17. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Hive is home and hearth.

Home was a synonym for family.

Dawn could go without shelter, fall asleep wherever, scavenge for food.

She didn't need much space for herself, she didn't need many things for herself. She could do without so much that others took for granted.

But when she looked around the sleepy midnight kitchen, her family gathered, everyone smiling, everything at peace, something shifted in her bones, and for the first time in her life, she knew she could be safe.

Scream had killed for this. They'd do it again with a smile.

Dawn was entirely willing to die for them, too - but Sunny pointed out that, dead, they couldn't protect anyone. The logic was flawless, and really, dying was never Plan A.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The one solid thing about extreme poverty is it teaches you all the things you actually for sure can go without - and the things you definitely cannot.


	18. Listen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Talk through the silence.

“I don’t like it,” Eddie said with a frown. “He’s  _ bad, _ you even said that.”

She shrugged. “So are we. It’s - good, to talk to someone who isn’t involved, you know? Everybody says so. Therapy is good. Not for the hallucinations, you know,” she amended. “But for other stuff. The trauma stuff. You should try.”

“Yeah, well, that’s a talk I don’t want to have, to be honest,” he admitted. “Too much to explain, and too much of it sounds  _ insane _ if I don’t want to blow my cover further than it already is.”

Dawn nodded softly. “That’s why,” she said, firmly. “It has to be him, because he knows.”

“I still don’t like him.”

Another shrug. “Don’t have to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you were wondering what _Eddie_ thinks about Dawn's new therapist.


	19. Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wake up.

They still woke up screaming in the night. 

V listened in on Eddie's dreams, every so often, and at this point, he didn't mind. 

Between them, they had built a bond so deep it wasn't always clear where Eddie ended and V began, and that bond was named Venom, a whole made from two parts.

It wasn't usually a problem, until it was. 

Every so often, a nightmare would slip in, and every so often it would feature a silver blade and the memory of flame. 

On the rare occasion V was with him in the dream when it turned, they would both end up rattled. Both of them had come far too close to death that night, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dreams are one of those super weird things we do.
> 
> Trauma, otoh, is for everybody! Yaaaay, survival instincts.


	20. Hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not quite murder.

Dawn had never thought of herself as a hero. How could she? 

She was small, and fragile, and she much better resembled the damsels in the stories. Plus, her brain was a twisted mess of shrapnel, cracking open under its own weight. 

But, then, she met Sunny, and together, they were neither fragile, nor weak. Together, they had more good days than bad. 

The man was taller than her, wearing a sweatshirt with a college logo. “It's okay,” they told him, shielding him from the twitching mass of shattered limbs. Technically, his attacker was still alive, and that counted. “You'll be okay. Call 911, okay? They'll help.”

Dawn was no hero, not alone. But Scream, together? Maybe they could be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think the best thing about Millenial Disaster Eddie Brock (and also Depressed Millenial Peter B. Parker) is that having superheroes who are Just Dudes is a nice reminder that anybody can be important, and anybody can be a hero. 
> 
> But like, I'm an afab enby, so that's sorta why I spent all this time building up this nerd-with-a-uterus. Representation matters, yo.


	21. Toys

“So, uh, do you have a favorite TV show?” Peter asked, glancing at Dawn. 

She shrugged, staring out the window. “Maybe? Not allowed, before. Was watching one, with Eddie - haven’t finished yet.”

“Okay … movies, maybe?”

Another shrug, accompanied by a small wince. “In the winter, the Christmas story? The ghosts punishing the Scrooge until he became good?” She bit her lip. “Used to imagine they would come for my parents, until I realized the story was a pretty lie.”

“O-oh.” That was depressing, actually. “What about toys? Did you …?”

She was already shaking her head. “Not allowed, little Spider.”

“Man. Your parents sucked.”

He hadn't consciously considered that being orphaned wasn't the worst possible parental situation available, before. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Peter loves his aunt and loved his uncle, but everything ever goes on and on about how important your birth parents are.
> 
> Dawn's a reminder that blood doesn't necessarily determine who your real family is.


	22. Red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pain is a part of touch, Matt.

_“All_ your senses?” Dawn asked, to clarify, and it took Matt a moment to parse what she was saying, what she was asking.

He cracked a smile. “Other than sight, obviously.”

“Obviously,” she agreed, shifting his weight across her shoulders. He’d reluctantly directed the kid to Claire's place, after realizing how bad the bleeding actually was. Shortly after that, his legs declined to hold him upright. “You fight. Bruised, broken, it hurts more?”

He bared his teeth, grimacing. “Yep.”

“That sucks,” she announced. Thick coils of something liquid oozed around his limbs, supporting his entire body as she jumped from the rooftop. “You know that?”

The landing was as gentle as she could make it: not fucking very. _“I'm aware.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get it? Red? Because he's red, and she's red, and his blood is red? 
> 
> Matt certainly fucking doesn't.


	23. Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Constellations on skin.

**Freckles,** Sunny's voice was thoughtful, as they regarded Dawn's face in the mirror.  **We like them,** they announced, and the words brought a smile to their face. 

_ “We _ knew that,” she replied, softly, to avoid waking Venom: Eddie and V kept each other awake all night. A warm, happy flutter trilled through Scream at the word, the affirmation of their partnership. “Gave us freckles as  _ us.” _ She brought up one finger to gently boop the space between their eyes, playful. 

They wrapped thin, golden tendrils around her hand, up her arm.  **Like stars on skin, but dark instead of light.** Gold ink caressed her skin, tracing the pattern of her freckles up her arm.  **Love it. Love you.**

**_“Love us.”_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Literally space aliens but I'm gonna put out this bit o' fluff instead. ;)


	24. Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Multiverse theory intensifies.

After getting stabbed, Eddie had put a bit more effort into laying low, which meant - in practical terms - bingeing Netflix and cuddling with V on the couch. 

Scream felt no need to hide. 

“Do anything fun today, kiddo?” Eddie asked over dinner, hash browns and scrambled eggs piled high.

Dawn shrugged, slightly, wobbling her hand back and forth. “Met spider-people from other universes,” she said, nibbling her lip. “They were okay. The old one hates the Venom in his universe, and also his Scream was evil?”

“Huh,” Eddie considered. V came up for air, their gooey face coated in chocolate ice cream. “I mean, they say power corrupts, right? We can be the exceptions.”

Dawn smiled brightly, and nodded. “Mhm!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dawn sits squarely in True Neutral for two reasons: 
> 
> 1: she cba to favor law over chaos, and only follows the laws she knows about until and unless they're inconvenient, at which point she ignores them. 
> 
> 2: she has halfway decent intentions but zero problem with performing genuinely evil actions. 
> 
> Most humans fit into that box though. Some exceptions apply.


	25. Alarm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Memories of an escapee.

Down the hall and around the corner, the bulletproof glass finally began to yield beneath the brutal assault of the frenzied pair. 

All the lights went red, and sirens began to wail, not quite painfully, but almost,  _ almost _ . 

If the guards were busy, though, then it was time. They’d escape, and they'd be free, free to hunt, free to explore, free to  _ exist _ without the doctors staring at them at every moment. 

Dawn staggered up to the glass panes at the front of her own cage, and pressed her palms against it, feeling, listening. 

The golden shadow could feel for the pitch, the song to set them free.

They'd  _ sing, _ and their cage would shatter. 

Nothing would stop them, now. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lash makes a good diversion.


	26. Blanket

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pressure grounds people in the present.

Humans are tactile. 

Their sense of touch is acute, perhaps because it's such a short gap between gentle pressure and painful wound.

Still, there is comfort in it, and pleasure, and V has found that they enjoy their host’s idle touch, the soft caresses of fingertips through their essence. It's no hardship, then, to wrap their host in a blanket formed from their own body, laying their weight across every part of him, grounding him in the here and now. 

Fear is a natural instinct. Hosts the galaxy over trust fear to preserve them against the danger of their world. 

V isn't used to  _ experiencing _ fear, but they know it when they see it. 

**It's okay, Eddie. I've got us.**


	27. Beauty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And then a plane happened, oops.

Atop the tower, staring out across the sea of lights, “Venom” can admit what they've known for a while. 

**“Your world is beautiful,”** they rumble, and the part of them that is Eddie shivers.  **“It will be a shame to see it end.”**

In the moment of silence before the shriek sends them reeling, they can taste the shape of his thoughts.  _ So don't, _ he thinks.  _ Stay with me. I like this. I like us. _

His mind is not always so open to them, but when they have engulfed him so completely, there are no secrets between them. 

The Stillness Waiting in the Abyss considers his proposal, and for a brief, moment, they relent. 

After all, they like Eddie, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It always seemed weird to me that Venom has a human-pronounceable name, and the only conclusion I can draw is that like most of their other behaviors in the movie, it's tailored to intimidate and impress their host.
> 
> At least one of those things was successful!


	28. Eye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It isn't gone.

Dawn sucked in a breath as she stepped into the Parkers’ kitchen, trying to ignore the shadowy shapes.

 **_Isn't real,_ ** Scream thought to themselves. They couldn't prove that to their eyes, not with Mrs. Parker there, but their other senses confirmed the space was empty.

She was older, maybe Eddie's age. Watching the redhead (chemicals in her auburn hair: it was probably dyed) they could ignore the Eye Unstuck From Time. “Is something wrong?”

“No,” they said, using Dawn's voice. _Dawn's:_  it didn't echo; it wouldn't be weird. “Nothing real. Really. Um. Hullo, we - I'm Dawn.” They forced the smile, extending their hand with confidence they didn't feel.

May frowned, slightly, but accepted the half-truth. The world ran on half-truths.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was never my intention to have Sunny cure Dawn's scizophrenia. 
> 
> They can work around it, for the most part, like Matt can work around being blind and Clint can use his hearing aids, but it's not entirely foolproof, and having a symbiote comes with some pretty dramatic side effects on its own. 
> 
> (Also May seems like the sorta lady who'd dye over her grays.)
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	29. Music

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A musical number.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lyrics borrowed from "Room of Angel," from Silent Hill 4.

Scream loved music. 

Something about the patterns of it pleased Dawn, soothing the twisting pathways of her mind, while the low thrumming of the melody vibrated pleasantly through Sunny's essence.

They looked up the song from Leslie's game online, and from there, they found even more music. 

Here was a melody from another game entirely. They'd never played it. Still, so far they'd enjoyed the algorithm’s suggestions. 

The singer addressed her dying mother, and in the melody, she found closure for the love she'd never been given. 

_ I don't feel enough for you to cry (oh, well) _

_ Here's a lullabye to close your eyes - goodbye. _

Was it any wonder that such a song might bring Scream a measure of comfort? 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'mma get up on my soapbox here for a sec. 
> 
> One of the things that popular media likes to do is to frame blood as the only true family. 
> 
> That's ... not helpful to victims of abuse. 
> 
> Remember always that _the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb._ You can't choose the circumstances of your birth, but you can choose who your family truly is. 
> 
> Maybe that includes the people who gave you life, and maybe it doesn't: life alone is not a gift to be given to those who are born; it's a right, as is the means to sustain that life. (Incidentally, that second part is where most anti-choicers fall flat.)
> 
> Look out for yourselves, friends, you're important.


	30. Captive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goose is a good judge of character.

The Widow  _ had _ agreed to this, she forced herself to remember, as she sat in the fishbowl with all the patience she could muster. 

Barton had convinced her, but she'd agreed. 

She could only hope her trust hadn't been misplaced. 

_ You've escaped worse, _ the Widow observed dispassionately.  _ You’ll survive this; you always do. If he meant to kill you, he would have tried harder.  _

It wasn't Hawkeye's call. 

Later, she would admit she didn't quite remember how “Goose” had gotten into the observation room.

The charming ginger furball settled into Nat's lap, making herself at home under the Widow's handcuffed arms. “I can't exactly pet you,” she informed the cat. 

If the purring was any indication, that wasn't a problem. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just my take on "Goose the cat confirms Hawkeye's decision to bring Nat in rather than to take her down."
> 
> I'm well aware this has been done before but, well. Headcanon accepted!


	31. Purple

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Honestly they deserved what they got.

The girl in the cell across the way is named Leslie. 

Her favorite color is purple. Her hair is purple, and at first, her nails are also purple. 

She is very loud, and she shouts obscenities at the cruel guard with the octopus pin. 

She shouts at everyone, though. 

Everyone else calls her ‘young man,’ and ‘Leonard,’ and ‘Mr. Brown,’ and they get a string of creative threats and insults. 

Dawn doesn't like conflict. 

Besides, wouldn't Leslie know herself better than these strangers? 

They don't see the purple girl again for two full months after their escape. Dawn forgets her name, but when they meet again, Sunny  _ knows _ it's the same girl. 

Her hair is the same shade of purple.    
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey it's that nerd.


	32. River

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Big damn heroes sir.

The girl on the screen was familiar, for all that she was just a character in a story. Sunny knew that the story wasn't reality, and they drew that line for Dawn.

Eddie said the point of fiction was to frame truths in the context of lies, to make them easier to swallow. Mortality and morality are both much less rigid, in stories: fiction is where it's safe to explore these things fully. 

Dawn isn't sure about that, but she caresses the screen as she watches the girl's brother stand strong beside her.

The truth in this story - for Dawn - is simple: people fear her for her differences. The ones who matter, though,  _ they _ can overlook their terror. 

It's comforting. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dawn's favorite fictional character is River Tam, at least until someone shows her Tangled, and then she'll have two favorites. 
> 
> This one's set right after she watches the episode wherein River nearly gets burned at the stake. -thumbsup- "Sure, but she's OUR witch."
> 
> \--
> 
> Heads-up, med fuckery and monthly physiological torture have left me unable to put out a chapter for Outreach this week. I'm hammering things out, but I'm also impersonating a zombie. 
> 
> I'll do better next week!


	33. Bird

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He sees better from afar.

There was a bird atop the building across the way, only he wasn't a bird exactly, he was person-shaped with a bird's-eye view. 

He was watching them, and it was rather distracting. 

For now, Scream ignored it. They allowed it.

Hours passed. He ran out of food, up there in his miserable concrete nest. They started to feel pity for him.

_ We should greet him, _ Dawn offered. 

A wicked, playful thought bounced between them.  **Spook him. Not too much.**

_ We will catch him if he falls. _

So they made dinner, enough for ten humans (or two symbiotes and three humans), and they ate with Venom. 

And then, they slipped, invisible, from the far side of the building. 

**_Will be fun._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course, if he'd been hostile, they'd have been catching him for a much different purpose. 
> 
> (I love feeling like a pancake. At least I can chip away at this li'l prompt list.)


	34. Heartache

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They saved the world, but at what cost?

He thought he'd known what love was like. 

With Anne, it had been different. He'd worshipped her; they'd never met as equals. 

With Venom,  _ as _ Venom - well, things were different. Everything slotted into place. They were perfect for one another, and for one brief moment, they were whole.

Of course, that couldn't last.

**Goodbye, Eddie.**

He'd felt their essence slipping through his fingers, and, desperate, he'd clawed at them, begged them to return. 

Later, he would know how much it had meant. Later, he'd learn that he'd saved their life by sheltering the smallest seed from the flame. 

In that moment, bobbing amidst the wreckage of the bay, however, he felt cold, and wet, and so _very_ empty. 

He cried. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course it panned out in the end, but he didn't know that at the time.


	35. Travel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The most difficult fights can't be won with violence.

“We've been spending most of our time in D.C., working to convince lawmakers that enhanced people are  _ people,” _ Anne explained, cutting into her steak. 

Dan smiled. “Anne has. I've practically been on vacation.”

Her hand clasped his, and Venom twined around Eddie's to crush any lingering desire before it could surface.  **Mine,** they growled, low and possessive.

_ Yours, _ he agreed, squeezing their tendrils under the table. 

Anne looked at them. “What about you? I know, Leslie, wasn't it, she's still up north, but how’s Dawn doing?”

“We had hoped to see her again,” Dan added.

Eddie glanced around the busy restaurant. “They get twitchy around so many strangers, you know? You guys can stop by anytime you like, though!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I totally love the OT4, I do, and I also low key kinda ship it.
> 
> But I'm aro, and polyamory requires way more negotiation, talk, and focus on the romance than I think I'd be able to pull off while still telling the story I wanna tell. 
> 
> Sorry!


	36. New

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Interdimensional science nerds inadvertently leave their less scientifically inclined allies behind.

The new spiders were  _ weird. _

Miguel was, well, he wasn't entirely human anymore. He was an okay guy, but he looked weird. Apparently it took effort to hide his spidery bits. He was the least ‘new;’ he’d helped set up the communicators. Interdimensional travel wouldn't have been possible without him. 

“Scream” was a lurker, barely responding even when when she was directly addressed. She also took ages to type short replies.

“PeterParkour,” by contrast, was too enthusiastic, chattering about  _ everything. _

He and B spent hours babbling about physics, the implications behind there being a multiverse at all, and theorizing about places they probably could never go. 

Then Peni and Miguel joined in, and Miles gave up on the whole conversation. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look it's these nerds. You can basically split the ITSV crew into 'science nerds' and 'everybody else.'


	37. Laughter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "What is you gonna do, shoot me?"
> 
> (Gun violence. And the regular kind. )

Dawn looked down at her stomach, blood blossoming on the hoodie, and laughter bubbled up in her chest.

Like, _yeah,_ it hurt, but honestly they should have expected this outcome? They had expected it, actually; Sunny had held just beneath her skin, waiting for the thug to make his move. 

So anyway, internal organs intact, skin bruised and bloody, but the bullet hadn't even gotten much into her muscle tissue.

Scream giggled. It swelled into a full-bodied laugh, and the thug began backing away, confused horror in his eyes. They hadn't even shown their full hand yet.

He emptied the rest of the bullets into Sunny's essence. 

They lunged forward, crushing the barrel in their talons, and tore him open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to DemonicWolf for finding the series again and commenting specifically on this event. 
> 
> Inspiration struck immediately.


	38. Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Platonic soulmates.

It isn't romance, the way they always look to one another; that kind of love is too fleeting and imperfect, and neither of them really knows how to let go and fall for it anyway. 

The Black Widow is a maneater, so they say, and Hawkeye is but a man. 

No, they aren't in love, because she uses romance as one more tool in her arsenal, and he wouldn't trade what they  _ do _ have for anything. 

They call one another, with phones just for them, and they talk for hours about all the things they aren't supposed to say. There's never been a mission more important than their friendship, and there never will be.

She dreads the mortality she's lost. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote like four of these this morning about Nat. Apparently she decided she wanted more exposition exposed.


	39. Hands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seeing green.

The Hulk's hand was so much larger than hers, but she knew he wouldn't hurt her, not really. “Sun's getting real low, big guy,” she murmured, and he nodded, slowly, letting the tension settle out of his jaw. 

He knew now, understood now, that people feared him for what he was. It was safer for everyone if he let Bruce run things, most of the time. 

It wasn't that she meant to deceive him, exactly, but taking control of a situation - of a man - came natural and insidious to the Widow.

For all his strength, for all his rage, the Hulk was still just a man, and she could work him like any other. 

Control always made her feel safer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Age of Ultron had some really contrived subplots, didn't it? 
> 
> I read a hot take that Nat's "romance" with Bruce was her managing the threat the Hulk posed, not only for S.H.I.E.L.D. and Fury, but also for the greater good and her own peace of mind. 
> 
> Consider that idea canon to this series.


	40. Believe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Black frost.

The first night she catches him, they're both surprised.

Around them, the dream sharpens, then fades. She's aware and alert, if not awake. 

“What are you doing here?” She asks the question, peering at the god who has invaded her mind. Perhaps she should resent the violation, but she's always known what it is to have someone in her head.  

In a way, violation is all she knows.

The god is disheveled, and she isn't sure it's not a ruse. “Would you believe that I am lonely?” His eyes seem hollow, and his body thin.  A play for pity, or a misdirection? 

“Isolation can break even the strongest man. Why me?”

He smiles. “Now that  _ is _ the question, isn't it?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's how it starts. 
> 
> Nat has this habit of defaulting to gathering information anytime she's on uncertain footing. That involves a lot of bottling up how she really feels.


	41. Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oops.

Happy grabbed the girl, and she flinched, but her hand twisted around his arm, talons catching reflectively around his wrist.

Scream performed the throw itself flawlessly, using leverage and speed rather than strength. He hit the mat rather than the far wall, groaning. “I think I preferred it when you were just Stark's secretary,” he admitted.

“You lost every match,” Nat pointed out, helping him to his feet. “You okay?”

He shook his head. “How about you fall on your face this time?”

She squared up.

When she grabbed Dawn's arm, however, the kid’s eyes went glassy.

Nat braced herself, as Scream's full strength flung her like a doll. Bones cracked, and she grunted in pain.

“That's - enough - for now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nat is a woman and Dawn's almost immediately back in San Francisco with Mother.
> 
> Aaaaand Nat kinda expected that but if she weren't also a supersoldier she'd be fucking dead.


	42. Friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Midnight rendezvous.

It takes less time, now, for the Widow to realize she's neither awake nor alone. 

The dream shifts. 

She presses a knife to his throat. 

He presses one to the artery at her groin, in turn. 

“I should kill you,” she hisses. “For what you did to him, I should  _ end _ you.”

Loki tries not to let her see that he finds her beautiful like this, stripped of her masks and bestial in her rage. He drops his knife, raises his hands. 

“If given a choice, I wouldn't have done any of it.”

The masks fall into place, ice slides into her demeanor. She's still beautiful, but now it's practiced and precise. 

“So.” She pulls back. “Who pulled your strings?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Clint is one of the few people Nat will lose her cool for, because he's one of the few people who knows the woman beneath the mask.


	43. Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Old habits die hard.

Nat hadn't done this in years, practically  _ never _ since she'd first broken the habit. 

In a way, the fact she's resorting to this made her feel even more vulnerable, even as she clicked the handcuffs into place. 

**That would not hold us,** the voice in her head rumbled, confused. 

She exhaled, softly. “It wouldn't hold  _ me, _ even without you. But it makes me feel - safe.”

_ Contained. _

Opalescent eyes peered down at her, and it read the familiarity of the action, the way her body had already begun to relax into the pattern of sleep.

**Humans,** it repeated,  **are not meant to be (expendable).**

A wry smile curved her lips. “Well, we've never been a species to obey our own limits.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you know the Red Room apparently chained the girls to their beds? 
> 
> This one's set toward the latter half of Observation, when Nat was holding onto V.


	44. Movie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I need fluff. Everyone needs fluff.

It didn't take the deductive reasoning skills of one of the world's foremost spies to choose a movie for the kid, but, well, Clint  _ was _ one of the world's best spies, and he knew kids, besides. 

“Oh!” Dawn's eyes lit up as she traced the case with her fingertips. “She is like me! Like us!” The girl looked over to the snake-like golden tendrils, excitement shining in her eyes. Her partner bared tiny fangs in a grin, leaning up to nuzzle her cheek with their forehead. “And - this is for us?”

He smiled at the pair. “All yours.”

It wouldn't be the first time he'd sentenced himself to a kid singing Disney on repeat. At least Scream was usually on-key.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The movie is Tangled, the scene is set a bit after Outreach, probably.


	45. Blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alternatively, fewer deaths.

**Listen,** it spoke, and Dora's world tilted up on end for the second time that night.

She wrapped her arms around herself, looking down. "I'm listening," she muttered, keeping her voice low. Oh, God, they were sapient. These creatures were sapient, which only made everything she had done that much worse. 

**Hungry,** it rumbled.  **Need meat, need to hunt, to kill, to consume.**

She shivered. "I don't think that's going to happen from inside this cell," she pointed out. 

**No,** it agreed.  **Have a plan.** Amusement played through its voice.  **Pack creatures, yes? Help me, and you will see your pack. You will live.**

Her entire body was shaking. "And if I don't?"

**Then you will perish like the rest.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which Endgame hurt so much Neko felt the need to resurrect people who died in other movies. 
> 
> Suppose this just lets a certain cat out of the bag, since these are deaths I had been planning to erase already.


	46. Vision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eyes open.

Of course, he still had access to Mr. Stark's databases. 

Knowing what the man had learned about the alien creatures didn't make it any less startling to witness one in action, turning the kitchen into a whirlwind of inhuman limbs and flying utensils, each action somehow precise despite the chaos.

"Oh," the small human at the center of the beast turned somewhat, to regard him. "You're new."

He tilted his head slightly. "I do not believe we've met, no."

"Dawn. And Sunny. You'll forgive us if we don't shake your hand." Both of her human hands were occupied, manually churning batter with a whisk. 

"You may call me, 'Vision.'"

A playful grin tugged at her lips. "Okay, Eyes." 

He smiled. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look it's that nerd.


	47. Forgiveness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Timing unclear.

"You said to save it for emergencies," Fury said wearily, rubbing behind Goose's ears  _ just so. _ "And this isn't, not in the traditional sense."

Carol folded her arms, an eyebrow raised, still the same cocksure pilot he'd met in the nineties. "So, what kind of sense are we talking, then?"

"I'm out of my depth." He fixed his one good eye on her, and he was so  _ damned _ tired. "Alien armies I can handle. That's clear-cut, win or lose. But now - " He shook his head. "We've been having more and more aliens show up. Some are friendly, like your Skrull buddies. Some aren't. And some - some we can't get a bead on."

She smiled. "I'll forgive you. Just this once."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO IT'S THESE NERDS.


	48. Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Other peoples' trauma.

They were alone.

It was dark.

The weight of the entire world seemed to be crushing their body, but in reality it was only a literal ton of steel and concrete.

Worst of all, they had disappointed everyone. Their father, their date, themself.

In that moment, they gave up.

Dawn woke, covering her mouth with both hands to stifle the whimpers that tried to escape her. The memory wasn't theirs, but they bore it all the same, the price of saving the tiny Spider from their own carelessness.

 **Didn't know,** Sunny murmured, apologetic, wrapping her in their essence.

She reached up, caressing their tendrils reassuringly. _You couldn't. It's okay._ Inhale, exhale. Only a dream, not even their own. _We're okay._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops.
> 
> These nightmares started up shortly after Observation and shortly before Outreach.
> 
> Dawn just can't catch a break in the sleep department.


	49. Ocean

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Family bonding.

Sunny kept Dawn safe inside their semisolid shell, shielding her from even getting wet, though she could feel the salty spray against their shared skin. 

The water carried songs beneath its surface, distant echoes of a language they couldn't understand except to admire. Sharp clicks bounced through the waves, too high for human hearing, but they  _ weren't _ human, not fully. 

“We learned about this a while back,” Eddie was explaining. “V can't do much with oxygen, but they can filter it out of the water for me to breathe.”

They nodded.  **“Less witnesses, more meat.”** Their tongue rolled across their teeth, hungry. **“Safer hunting ground.”**

“Glad you approve,” he grinned. Venom slid into place, and they dove into the ocean. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Agony doesn't like hunting in general and Lash is squarely in the land-dwelling mammal category, where humans are this weird semi-amphibious mishmash creature.
> 
> Shout out to krazyfan, who really likes the ocean. ♡


	50. Fly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The birds and the bats and the bees.

**How,** they asked, watching the tiny insect hovering nearby. 

Eddie smiled at a remembered joke, then shook his head. "Science is still working on bees, buddy. We've got birds," he pictured feathered avian creatures, "and bats pretty well figured out, though."

**Oh?**

He nodded. "It's like, hollow bones and wingspan ratios and how they move their feathers based on what kind of wind there is. We can look it up?"

His mind conjured images of hooked beaks, fierce predators - and thick, protective gloves. 

**Eddie,** they began, warily.  **Do humans take birds as pets, too?**

It startled a laugh from him. "Man, V, depending on your definition, bees, too."

Honey, apparently, came from domesticated bees.

**Why are you humans like this.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The more pets there are, the fewer prey creatures they can eat. Poor V.
> 
> \--
> 
> Bats are cute, like tiny winged puppies. Also, the two separate times a bat got in the house, it was pretty easy to herd it toward the door, bc echolocation is great like that. 
> 
> The one time a bird got into the house, the little idiot couldn't figure out that glass windows are not open air, and our windows have been painted shut forever. 
> 
> (Do not handle wild bats or birds tho, they often serve as carriers for diseases.)


	51. Shadow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It isn't real.

Dawn wasn't quite sure when she noticed it first. 

She'd always gotten the sense that the shadows were watching, but before, she could never find their eyes.  

Father couldn't see the way the shadows took on human shapes, with inhuman claws and fangs. 

Mother couldn't hear the words they whispered in her ears. 

It was just another way that she was broken.

The shadow people, the Watchers, they weren't solid in the way that humans were. Even if they  _ were _ real, they couldn't seem to touch anyone else. 

Dawn was too afraid to even think about whether or not they could actually touch  _ her. _ If she hid well enough, maybe she’d never find out. 

She hoped she’d never find out. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set well before Offspring.


	52. World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Modern culture.

The criminal captain has a book of learning, a list of songs and stories that he is supposed to learn, to discover the ways the world is new.

Since Mr. Stark is letting him stay, now, he does much of his study in the compound. 

"May we?" Scream asks, holding out the popcorn bowl in nervous tribute. It is the first time they've built up the courage to ask. Captain America is still a hero, strong and good and full of light in a way they could never be, and he would be right to deny them. "We - I didn't get to see many stories, before - and Sunny likes them, too?"

He smiles, warm and honest. "Of course you can."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set between Observation and Outreach. 
> 
> Steve Rogers is a golden retriever of a man, the sort of person who inspires people to be better than they are. 
> 
> Pity how his arc slowly tipped sideways off the rails, but that's what fic is for.


	53. Oxygen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Breathing burns.

Oxygen caused combustion.

V was familiar with this idea. They'd suffered nearly fatal doses of the gas repeatedly, before working out the trick to negating its effects.

What they hadn't realized, the thing that now gave them pause, was the idea their host was somehow not immune to the negative repercussions of surviving an oxygen-rich homeworld. Resistant, yes, certainly far more suited for this world than V had ever been, but not immune.

It was horrifying.

The damage came slow, so slow that V hadn't noticed at first, but now they were acutely aware of the low-level burn under every intake of breath.

It wasn't insurmountable. They would just have to work harder, heal more.

Eddie would be fine. _Always._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This started as inspiration for my other fic, "Alien," but inspiration abandoned me just before the 120 word mark, so it falls here, instead. 
> 
> Incidentally, why not check that one out? It's in the collection.

**Author's Note:**

> Heya! Thanks for reading. 
> 
> Feel free to check out the other works in this collection, and hit me up on Tumblr, Twitter, or Twitch - I'm @nekhs basically everywhere.


End file.
